some time, he found the holes were horizontal and serpentine, as I had observed before: and that the nests were deposited at the inner end, and had been occupied by broods in former summers, but no torpid birds were to be found. He opened and examined about a dozen holes. Another gentleman made the same search many years ago, with as little success. These holes were in depth about two feet. March 21, 1790. A single bank or sand martin was seen hovering and playing round the sand-pit at Short Heath, where in the summer they abound. April 9, 1793. A sober hind assures us, that this day, on Wish-hanger common between Hedleigh and Frinsham, he saw several bank-martins playing in and out, and hanging before some nest-holes in a sand-hill, where these birds usually nestle. This incident confirms my suspicions that this species of hirundo is to be seen first of any; and gives great reason to suppose that they do not leave their wild haunts at all, but are secreted amidst the clefts and caverns of those abrupt cliffs where they usually spend their summers. The late severe weather considered, it is not very probable that these birds should have migrated so early from a tropical region, through all these cutting winds and pinching frosts: but it is easy to suppose that they may, like bats and flies, have been awakened by the influence of the sun, amidst their secret latebræ, where they have spent the uncomfortable foodless months in a torpid state, and the profoundest of slumbers. There is a large pond at Wish-hanger, which induces these sand-martins to frequent that district. For I have ever remarked that they haunt near great waters, either rivers or lakes.* *Here, and in many other passages of his writings, this very ingenious naturalist favours the opinion that part at least of the swallow tribe pass their winter in a torpid state in the same manner as bats and flies, and revive again on the approach of spring. I have frequently taken notice of all these circumstanees, which induced Mr. White to suppose that some of the hirundines lie torpid during winter. I have seen, so late as November, on a finer day than usual at that season of the year, two or three swallows flying backwards and forwards under a warm hedge, or on the sunny side of some old building; nay I once saw on the 8th of December two martins flying about very briskly, the weather being mild. I had not seen any considerable number either of swallows or martins for a considerable time before; from whence then could these few birds come, if not from some hole or cavern where they had laid themselves up for the winter? Surely it will not be asserted that these birds migrate back again from some distant tropical region, merely on the appearance of a fine day or two at this late season of the year. Again, very early in the spring, and sometimes immediately after very cold severe weather, on its growing a little warmer, a few of these birds suddenly make their appearance, long before the generality of them are seen. These appearances certainly favour the opinion of their passing the winter in a torpid state, but do not absolutely prove the fact; for who ever saw them reviving of their own accord from their torpid state, without being first brought to the fire, and as it were, forced into life again; soon after which revivification they constantly die.— MARKWICK. CONGREGATING AND DISAPPEARANCE OF SWALLOWS. DURING the severe winds that often prevail late in the spring, it is not easy to say how the hirundines subsist: for they withdraw themselves, and are hardly ever seen, nor do any insects appear for their support. That they can retire to rest, and sleep away these uncomfortable periods, as bats do, is a matter rather to be suspected than proved: or do they not rather spend their time in deep and sheltered vales near waters, where insects are more likely to be found? Certain it is, that hardly any individuals of this genus have at such times been seen for several days together. September 13, 1791. The congregating flocks of hirundines on the church and tower are very beautiful and amusing! When they fly off together from the roof, on any alarm, they quite swarm in the air. But they soon settle in heaps, and preening their feathers, and lifting up their wings to admit the sun, seem highly to enjoy the warm situation. Thus they spend the heat of the day, preparing for their emigration, and, as it were, consulting when and where they are to go. The flight about the church seems to consist chiefly of house martins, about 400 in number: but there are other places of rendezvous about the village frequented at the same time. It is remarkable, that though most of them sit on the battlements and roofs, yet many hang or cling for some time by their claws against the surface of the walls, in a manner not practised by them at any other time of their remaining with us. The swallows seem to delight more in holding their assemblies on trees. November 3, 1789. Two swallows were seen this morning at Newton vicarage-house, hovering and settling on the roofs and out-buildings. None have been observed at Selborne since October 11. It is very remarkable, that after the hirundines have disappeared for some weeks, a few are occasionally seen again: sometimes, in the first week in November, and that only for one day. Do they not withdraw and slumber in some hiding place during the interval? for we cannot suppose they had migrated to warmer climes and so returned again for one day.* Is * Of their migration the proofs are such as will scarcely admit of a doubt. Sir Charles Wager it not more probable that they are awakened from sleep, and like the bats are come forth to collect a little food? Bats appear at all seasons through the autumn and spring months, when the thermometer is at 50, because then phalænæ and moths are stirring. These swallows looked like young ones. WAGTAILS. WHILE the cows are feeding in the moist low pastures, broods of wagtails, white and gray, run round them, close up to their noses, and under their very bellies, availing themselves of the flies that settle on their legs, and probably finding worms and larvæ that are roused by the trampling of their feet. Nature is such an economist, that the most incongruous animals can avail themselves of each other! Interest makes strange friendships.* WRYNECK. Pied Wagtail. THESE birds appear on the grass-plots and walks; they walk a little as well as hop, and thrust their bills into the turf, in quest, I conclude, of ants, which are their food. While they hold their bills in the grass, they draw out their prey with their tongues, which are so long as to be coiled round their heads.† and Captain Wright saw vast flocks of them at sea, when on their passage from one country to another. Our author, Mr. White, saw what he deemed the actual migration of these birds, and which he has described at p. 65 of his History of Selborne; and of their congregating together on the roofs of churches and other buildings, and on trees, previous to their departure, many instances occur, particularly I once observed a large flock of house-martins on the roof of the church here at Catsfield, which acted exactly in the manner here described by Mr. White, sometimes preening their feathers and spreading their wings to the sun, and then flying off all together, but soon returning to their former situation. The greatest part of these birds seemed to be young ones.-MARK WICK. Birds continually avail themselves of particular and unusual circumstances to procure their food; thus wagtails keep playing about the noses and legs of cattle as they feed, in quest of flies and other insects which abound near those animals; and great numbers of them will follow close to the plough to devour the worms, &c., that are turned up by that instrument. The redbreast attends the gardener when digging his borders; and will, with great familiarity and tameness, pick out the worms, almost close to his spade, as I have frequently seen. Starlings and magpies very often sit on the backs of sheep and deer to pick out their ticks.-MARKWICK. + This curious and very beautifully marked species is particularly common in many parts of Surrey, where it is known by various names, as cuckoo's-mate, pay-pay, snake bird, &c., the second term being obviously derived from its hawk-like note. Though its foot closely resembles that of many woodpeckers, it is very rarely indeed seen to climb, but that it can do so I have had occasion to witness; it presses, however, its soft tail against the bark, the structure of which sufficiently GROSBEAK. MR. B. shot a cock grosbeak which he had observed to haunt his garden for more than a fortnight. I began to accuse this bird of making sad havoc among the buds of the cherries, gooseberries, and wall-fruit of all the neighbouring orchards. Upon opening its crop or craw, no buds Mr. were to be seen; but a mass of Grosbeak. of damsons. The Latin ornithologists call this bird coccothraustes, that is, berry-breaker, because with its large horny beak it cracks and breaks the shells of stone fruits for the sake of the seed or kernel. Birds of this sort are rarely seen in England, and only in winter.* shows that it is not an habitual climber. Writers have strangely attributed the origin of the word "wryneck" to a supposed habit of frequently turning round the head while feeding, giving the mesial line at the back of the neck a contorted appearance. Much as I have noticed the bird, I never could observe this habit, and am sceptical rather as to its occurrence. Those who have ever winged or picked up a slightly wounded wryneck, will be at no loss to divine the origin of the appellation. Nothing can be more ridiculous than the menacing postures it then assumes. Erecting the crest and closely depressing the neck plumage, it hisses like a snake, and moves about its long neck as if to imitate one. If placed again on the ground, its attitudes will be even more preposterous, and resembling those of an automaton figure, rather than of a creature endowed with life.-ED. This is a mistake; the haw grosbeak is a resident species, but so extremely shy during the breeding season that it a long while escaped the attention of our naturalists. I know several localities where they annually breed, and know one instance of a nest occurring two following seasons in the very same fork of a tree. It has but poor claims to our regard in the way of music, but generally delivers its few notes from a bare branch near the top of a tree. In summer the bills of both sexes become of a fine blue, and the young differ much from their parents, having a deal of yellowish about the head and throat, and many small dusky spots on the under plumage. A brood of them committed great depredations on my neighbour's green peas, one of which was shot, and is in my collection. It is extremely difficult to get even a distant shot at this bird in summer, as it flies off the moment it perceives a person approach.-ED. 280 OBSERVATIONS ON QUADRUPEDS. SHEEP. THE sheep on the downs this winter (1769) are very ragged, and their coats much torn; the shepherds say they tear their fleeces with their own mouths and horns, and they are always in that way in mild wet winters, being teased and tickled with a kind of lice. After ewes and lambs are shorn, there is great confusion and bleating, neither the dams nor the young being able to distinguish one another as before. This embarrassment seems not so much to arise from the loss of the fleece, which may occasion an alteration in their appearance, as from the defect of that notus odor, discriminating each individual personally; which also is confounded by the strong scent of the pitch and tar wherewith they are newly marked; for the brute creation recognize each other more from the smell than the sight; and in matters of identity and diversity appeal much more to their noses than their eyes. After sheep have been washed there is the same confusion, from the reason given above. RABBITS. RABBITS make incomparably the finest turf, for they not only bite closer than larger quadrupeds, but they allow no bents to rise; hence warrens produce much the most delicate turf for gardens. Sheep never touch the stalks of grasses. CAT AND SQUIRRELS.* A BOY has taken three little young squirrels in their nest, or The changes of appearance which the common squirrel undergoes have not been noticed in any work that I have met with. They shed their covering twice in the year, and in summer the |